‘There’s always something to do on the farm,” explains 17-year-old Karen O’Hara. Raised on her family’s farm in Co Leitrim, Karen has been working away and helping where she can since she was small.

“I really enjoy it. It’s a beef farm with about 20 cows, and we have one horse too. My father started it, but I have two cows now as part of my dad’s herd that I always look after,” says Karen. “We went to the mart one day and I came home with two calves, I’ve been looking after them for four years now. I remember my father telling me that I had to look after them because these were mine, so I’ve just kept on minding them since.”

She’s heading into sixth year come September, but Karen isn’t worried about balancing her schoolwork and her farm commitments. In fact, she plans to pursue something agriculture-based in college so that she can continue on her family’s work.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I’m not sure what aspect of it I’ll go into after school, but I definitely want to keep working with the cows. I’ve just always loved going over to the farm, ever since I was little. There are photos of me with cows and animals from when I was really small, I think it’s just always been something I’ve wanted to be part of,” says Karen.

“I don’t really find it difficult to manage the farm work and school, it’s just something I’ve always done. I check the cows before I go to school, then again when I get home – it’s just the routine I have. There’s always something to be done on the farm, so I never really get bored and that’s what I enjoy.”

Involved in farming

It’s clear that getting stuck in on the farm is something that Karen has been a part of ever since she can remember. She says that some of her earliest memories involve her father, JJ O’Hara, and her uncle, Edward, showing cattle at shows.

“Our family has always been involved in farming, so I’d go see what they were all doing as well. It’s all very interesting,” she says. “I have one horse too, named Molly, and she’s retired now because she’s about 18 or so now, so she’s getting up there in age, but I used to ride her. I do horse riding and show jumping as well with a local club called Drumralla Stables, I’ve been doing that since I was about five and it’s great fun.

“I don’t really go to many competitions, I just like doing it for the fun of it.”

For us, it’s always been normal to get involved and we’ve always liked it. In fact, my sister Erin and I help out on the farm more than my brother. Erin’s in agricultural college now, she has one year done

Unfortunately, there aren’t as many women involved in farming as men, with Teagasc reporting that only around 13.4% of farms across the country are registered to women – although, they make up around 27% of the actual workforce. However, in the O’Hara household, that has never been an issue as Karen has always been raring to get involved, alongside her brother Edward (20) and Erin (19).

“If I was given the farm one day, I would absolutely take it over, that’s something I would definitely be interested in. For us, it’s always been normal to get involved and we’ve always liked it. In fact, my sister Erin and I help out on the farm more than my brother. Erin’s in agricultural college now, she has one year done,” says Karen.

JJ O’Hara, Karen’s father, says that he’s very proud of how involved his daughter is with the farm and that it’s important to him that women and girls get involved with farming where they can.

Machinery and drones

As the CEO of Future Cast, an innovative non-profit that’s focused on projects to increase the adoption of advanced technology and processes across the construction and quarrying sectors, JJ says that seeing his own daughter get involved from such a young age is exactly the type of thing that the sector will need going forward.

“We’re always testing new machinery and drones and stuff, so Karen has even tried out our autonomous tractors. She’s had her tractor licence since she was 16, so she does have to drive diggers and tractors around to help out too.

“Farming is a nice way of life, so I think it’s so important that we get women and girls involved. The company is actually overseeing several projects to support women in agriculture and construction, so seeing my own girls get involved is brilliant,” says JJ. “A big part of it is to help make it fun too, because it’s really hard work – like we were injecting cattle last night, so we went for a Chinese before to help make it more fun.”

“I’m really proud of the kids, like they’re the future. An old man stopped me one day when I was out saying, ‘there’s four women after going by in a tractor’, and I told him that two of them were my daughters. For him, it was a big thing to see four women in a tractor, but that’s the reality; more women are going into farming, and I’m really proud that my girls are two of them.”

Although she’s well aware that the animals will be used for beef – Karen explains very seriously that while they’re not pets, they are very nice – and she does like to name them all.

“My two are called Penelope and Midnight. I’ve been naming the cattle on the farm my whole life, so Jimmy is the bull, then Rosie, Missy, Malibu, and Cookie are some of the names of the cattle. Some of the names are because of the colour of the cows, and some are just random, but it’s fun to give them names,” explains Karen.

With her final year in secondary school looming, Karen is cool and calm about everything that lies ahead of her. Even though she knows she might be busier than ever this year, she says that she’s not worried.

“I just really like helping out on the farm, so I’m not worried about sixth year or managing everything. I’ll still get up and make sure the horses and cows have their water and food in the morning, then I’ll go off to school. That’s just the way it is, even if I’m getting up early to do it, but I like it so I don’t mind.

“Last night we gave the cows their vaccines and even that was good to take part in,” says Karen. “I’ve just always liked working on the farm, there’s always something to do and I’m never bored, so I’m happy to keep going.”